espinelliWhy having influence buys you freedom.
What if you could buy time, options, opportunities and freedom. Would You?
I believe that motivated entrepreneurs can live life on their terms—hustling hard and playing even harder. Through my years in marketing and the startup world (more on that later), I realized that the only way to REALLY have control over your life is to build up a brand, influence and give SO MUCH VALUE to others that people seek you out for work and opportunities.
Hence… why being an influencer is so important to so many people.
Influence buys you time, opportunities, options and freedom.
We all want influence. The thing is, we can’t all have it. It’s there for the people that choose to take it, work for it, earn it through giving value and building trust.
To be an influencer you must be an incredible communicator.
You know EXACTLY what value you bring to the table, and you can sell it.
Well, this isn’t always the easiest. It’s almost easier to grow a 10k IG following than it is to KNOW without a shadow of a doubt and communicate your real value.
What qualifies as influence?
We can look at influence on a small scale, and then a large.
First, influence sells.
You’re wondering where to go out to dinner tonight. You call up a friend that you trust, and ask where they’ve been to dinner and where they would recommend. They tell you and you book a reservation.
This is influence on the small scale. You could have a friend that is the “go to” for nights out on the town because they LOVE to have a good time and party. So, you always ask them when you’re interested in having this sort of experience.
This is influence. On the small scale, this friend of yours in your 5-person friend group—has been deemed the “expert” of “best nights out.”
The same scenario applies to social media celebrities and influencers across all platforms.
You give value (in our previous scenario… the best places to go out) frequently in a niche (singular, defined topic) and then people begin to associate you with that defined topic. Now, whenever someone thinks of the said topic, they think of you!
This is a form of personal branding and thought leadership. Mostly, it’s building influence.
Why build influence? What’s all the hype and the big deal?
Well, for one you’re the “cool kid” in your group of friends. And that always makes people feel good. But really, what’s the point in building influence through social media on a large scale? Maybe you’re asking—what can you possibly gain from people trusting your judgment and experience-based-opinion??
Influence buys options.
Let me say it again. Seriously. Influence will buy you options.
If you enjoy not having much control or direction over your life and you’re happy working no-name desk jobs where if you were replaced… no one would notice… then keep at it, this won’t be for you.
When you build influence you become IRREPLACEABLE.
You’re now “one-of-a-kind” in the minds of others.
Simply put, this means you won’t ever be left out, and people will always try to be around you and surround themselves with your brilliance. And, many people have this. It’s really just whether or not you exercise your own influence, how often, and how many people CARE about what you say and act on it.
Either way, when you’re irreplaceable, you get more opportunities.
People invite you to events you otherwise wouldn’t be invited to, you get offered jobs that would never otherwise be offered, you make friends that otherwise would be disinterested…
And when you GAIN INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIAS…
Brands approach you, to work with you… that would NEVER approach you otherwise.
You see, when you earn influence, you earn attention.
And everyone wants attention.
In fact, big businesses and brand PAY FOR ATTENTION.
The attention is bought in the form of advertising, promotion, marketing, publicity, social marketing and then of course influence marketing.
Using influencers that believe in a product or brand to talk about the brand raises EVEN MORE ATTENTION to the brands. In a sense, it’s native advertising.
So, for example: in addition to buying that big LED-lit billboard in Times Square, H&M will give out clothes to, and pay Instagram, Snapchat and Vine influencers to wear the cloths and post about their experience.
This is because, in the example—H&M knows that influence makes sales: real sales and concrete sales, even more than advertising.
Why?
Because influence is a recommendation from a trusted friend. If you trust them, and they say this dress is stellar, and it’s great for going out for a night on the town (or whatever it is) and you relate to the experience… then you pick up the dress!
The sale is made, quickly.
This is the value in having influence.
Thoughts or comments? Let me know in the comments section!
Article originally posted on: http://emelinaspinelli.com